Small room ideas

Ett Hem: Stockholm's Chicest Hotel

A warm, welcoming interior with a carefully curated mix of vintage and custom-made furniture gives Ett Hem in Stockholm the feel of a well-loved house, rather than a hotel, finds Guy Dittrich

Paul Massey

Paul Massey

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It's hard to put your finger on what is so special about Ett Hem, a 12-room hotel in the embassy quarter of Stockholm. Ett Hem translates as 'a home', and it feels as though it has been lived in for ages, even though it only opened in 2012 - everything is in just the right place and gives the impression of being brand new, though 'new' here means in great condition rather than fresh out of the box. It is as if, simultaneously, the house has been repainted, the curtains laundered, the original furniture recently returned from the upholsterers, the bookshelves reordered, the plants recently pruned - the way most of us would like our own homes, if only we could find the time.

Paul Massey

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Owner Jeanette Mix bought the sturdy, brick corner building in 2006. The house, built in 1910, was originally furnished in the Arts and Crafts style epitomised by the work of its first owner, Carl Larsson, a decorative yet practical approach that saw celebration in the design of the everyday things found in a home.

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Paul Massey

And a home is exactly what Jeanette wanted. Even before she bought the house she had begun to assemble her dream team. Local architectural practice Landström Arkitekter was engaged to ensure that the building could be returned to its original configuration following its use as an office from the Fifties onwards, and project architect Magnus Stenmark had the task of gaining planning permission in a deeply conservative area - something which took three years to attain - in order to add fire escapes and a lift. He also replaced the original roof structure from the inside, creating five additional attic rooms, in one of which - a duplex - every face of the sloping walls and ceiling has been immaculately panelled in dark wood. This job alone took two craftsmen 12 weeks to complete. 'There was no cheating,' says Jeanette. 'The quality of construction was extremely important to me.'

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She deliberated long and hard over her choice of interior designer. It was during a dinner with her husband at Mathias Dahlgren's restaurant in Stockholm's Grand Hôtel, on the waterfront, that she saw the balance of international and Scandinavian design she wanted. So began a relationship with the restaurant's British designer, Ilse Crawford of Studioilse, and an immediate friendship was struck. When asked what was the best value for money in the whole project, Jeanette responds without hesitation, 'Ilse Crawford'. For her part, Ilse describes her client as 'terrific and courageous. Prepared to go beyond her comfort zone.' And true comfort is the end result.

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'We don't just do the interior, we design the experience,' explains Ilse, 'and it's one that goes way beyond interior design to make a strong emotional impact, as well as make a place feel instinctively comfortable.'

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This comfort comes from the considered curation of new and old, the timeless and the living. Several tables, sofas and the vast wall cabinet in the kitchen were designed by Studioilse, as were the small, rounded boxes in copper and brass from her new collection for Georg Jensen, which sit on well-used milking stools from the north of Sweden, and a desk lamp from Wästberg. The company also sourced many antiques, including chandeliers lit by real candles and the large ceramic stoves in several of the bedrooms.

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In the library, a feeling of timelessness is achieved by the Vitsoe '606' shelving system designed by Dieter Rams, filled with artfully displayed but genuinely readable books, and the vintage Kaare Klint leather chairs clustered round the dining table. The living nature of the design is in the preponderance of plants - not the ubiquitous fakeness of orchids but the realistic homeliness of ferns and trailing plants. Equally, the small garden, by Ulf Nordfjell, winner of Best in Show at the 2009 Chelsea Flower Show, adds to the sense of calm realism. 'It is a shady garden so the colours are whites and soft blues,' he says, 'with lots of pots of seasonal flowers to give it an atmosphere of being at home.'

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The whole house works on a human scale, with the layout and interconnectivity of the spaces encouraging real use. Walking through the kitchen, where one of the chefs might be preparing dinner, to the glasshouse and garden beyond, seems totally natural. As it would, no doubt, in Jeanette Mix's own home.